The FSA reported that over the course of the year it would consider applications from almost 2,000 firms, with the time taken to authorise firms reduced from three months to two months.
Speaking at the Association of Member-Directed Pensions Schemes Annual General Meeting,
Authorisation Director at the FSA, Roger Hillyer, said: “We have changed to operating with a service standard of turning round 75 per cent of applications in three months compared to the previous service standard to determine 75 per cent of applications in four months. In fact our average time to determine authorisations has improved over the last year from an average of three months to an average now of two months.”
The FSA also confirmed that its Customer Satisfaction Rating for authorisations had improved from 62 per cent to 72 per cent between 2004 and 2006. Hillyer added: “We believe we must improve further – we are aiming for 75 per cent. We will continue improving the speed of authorisation and customer satisfaction but we will always ensure we make the right authorisation decisions. This is what better regulation means in practice in authorisation.”
Mike Pendergast, IFA at Zen Financial Services, admitted that the regulator was moving in the right direction. He said: “An increase in efficiency and service has to be good for the industry. As long as its predictions carry on in the right direction, then in the next few years the FSA should be looking for 80 to 85 per cent on its Customer Satisfaction Ratings, which can only be a good thing.”
